"He he! There is indeed a monster. Additionally, it is a soul-bewitching monster. For someone like you, it is very powerful and quite the threat. Later, you must safeguard your mind and not allow it to invade your sea of wisdom," Tower said amusedly.

Soul-bewitching monster. Hearing that, Chen Feng immediately focused on defending his mind. Truth be told, Chen Feng's soul power was not weak. However, he had yet to overcome Lightning Tribulation, after all. He was somewhat fearful of encountering enemies proficient in soul-bewitching techniques.

However, after considering it, Chen Feng calmed down. He had cultivated the Soul Subduing Mantra. This wondrous magic technique could play a powerful role during critical moments. The only drawback of using it was Chen Feng's weak soul power. Thus, overusing it would put him in a temporary period of weakness.

Moving forward, Chen Feng sensed the increasing thickness of the surrounding streams of blood energy. Reaching his hand out, Chen Feng grasped and succeeded in catching a strand of blood energy. To Chen Feng's surprise, the strand of blood energy was struggling against his grip like a snake.

This is probably the blood essence of a Sky Human stage cultivator. There is a negative aura within it. He must have really begrudged the way he died. Chen Feng then sent the strand of blood energy into b.l.o.o.d.y Soul.

At the same time, wave after wave of foreboding sensations rushed into Chen Feng's mind.

As expected, it is dangerous, Chen Feng thought.

"Chen Feng, what did you find?" Mo Ji caught up to him, moving to fly beside him.

"He he, nothing. However, considering how thick the blood energy here is, you can probably sc.r.a.p your plan to subdue these bandits," Chen Feng said with a wry smile.

"All right. Let's stop here. We should head back now. Since there is danger here, we can no longer take Blackwind Mountain. We should find another place," the elder said cautiously.

"No, I still want to go a little farther," Mo Ji said.

"I'll head forward first." Chen Feng sped up and was 100 zhang ahead of them in a flash. Chen Feng was getting closer and closer to the spot where blood energy was rising into the sky.

"Eh?"

Chen Feng's figure wobbled and he felt his vision going blurry as a mysterious power invaded his mind.

Next, Chen Feng felt a call. The call had seemingly come from the Celestial Plane itself, a call which reached the depths of his soul. It gave Chen Feng an extreme feeling of intimacy, so much so that he could not even think about resisting.

Thus, Chen Feng involuntarily flew forward. He flew towards the source of the call.

By the time Chen Feng sensed something amiss, he had already - unknowingly - flown over 100 metres forward.

Not good! I fell for it! Chen Feng wanted to stop, but found it impossible to do so. It felt as though there were fine strings tying up his soul, making it impossible for him to escape.

Soul Subduing Mantra! Chen Feng's soul surged to unleash the secret technique.

Weng!

A formidable force charged out from Chen Feng's sea of wisdom. The call, which had invaded Chen Feng's mind, was immediately blown apart before completely dispersing away.

With that, Chen Feng was able to regain control over his body.

What happened earlier? Chen Feng felt shocked. If it were not for the fact that he had cultivated the Soul Subduing Mantra, he would have been incapable of shrugging off the call.

"He he! Didn't I tell you earlier? It is a soul-bewitching monster," Tower said with a chortle.

Chen Feng turned and saw the same blank look in Mo Ji's eyes. She flew forward in a dazed state. Even the elder beside her was showing a struggling look.

"Break!"

Chen Feng was considering whether or not to help them when the elder's eyes suddenly shone. He growled, breaking free of the call. Next, he grabbed hold of Mo Ji and swiftly retreated.

After reaching a safe distance, the elder shouted, "Little Brother Chen, hurry back out!"

"It's fine. You two head back first!" Chen Feng waved them off. With the aegis of the Soul Subduing Mantra, the situation should not be too dire.

The streams of blood energy were rising up from a circular valley.

The farther in Chen Feng went, the stronger the call attempting to invade his sea of wisdom became. Without the Soul Subduing Mantra, Chen Feng would have lost control over his body long ago.

Finally, Chen Feng saw some cultivators. Cultivators in varying attires converged upon the circular valley from every direction. There was a blank look on every single one of them, making them look like wooden puppets.

These fellows must be the Blackwind Mountain bandits. It seems the mysterious calling power has taken control of them, Chen Feng thought.

I wonder what is inside the valley. Chen Feng swiftly plastered several Invisibility Talismans on his body, causing his figure to disappear from sight.

"I wonder if there is any Invisibility Formula? Using Invisibility Talismans like this is troublesome," Chen Feng complained softly.

"He he. You will have to wait until you have overcome Lightning Tribulation," Tower said with a chuckle.

It did not take long for Chen Feng to arrive at the spot where blood energy was rising into the sky. He hid himself behind a ma.s.sive boulder within one of the peripheral areas of the valley and peered ahead.

Bang!

Like a blossoming flower, blood abruptly burst out from within the valley, shocking Chen Feng in the process. When Chen Feng saw what was happening, he became stunned.

"This, this, what the h.e.l.l is going on?" In his shock, Chen Feng blurted out.

"Hush!" Tower reminded him.

Cultivators kept walking into the valley, where they stood still within the centre of the valley. Then, one by one, cultivators moved to stand before a cave.

Immediately after that, one of the cultivators exploded. The cultivator's flesh and blood scattered around and streams of blood energy swirled about.

All of that happened before Chen Feng's eyes. He watched as the cultivators exploded, creating blossoming flowers of blood each time.

The lands within the small valley were covered in crushed meat and blood flowed across the ground. Stream after stream of blood energy charged into the sky, causing the entire valley to turn red in colour. For Chen Feng, it was as though he had arrived in h.e.l.l. The Devil himself was seemingly slaughtering and feeding upon the cultivators en ma.s.se.

Immediately, Chen Feng felt his stomach churn as a nauseating feeling rose up within him.

Truth be told, Chen Feng could already be considered a veteran of a hundred battles. He had entered the battlefield before and killed his fair share. Even so, the landscape unfolding before his eyes was still a shocking sight for him.

Bang! Bang!

This time, two bandits exploded simultaneously, causing two b.l.o.o.d.y flowers to bloom upwards. From a bird's eye view, it looked like red fireworks.

However, Chen Feng knew that the scene was caused by the disappearance of the two bandits' lives.

"Kid, did you figure anything out?" Tower asked.

"No. I cannot sense any external forces. It is strange. It looks as though the two fellows had blown themselves up," Chen Feng said with a puzzled tone.

"He he, that is correct. Those two fellows blew themselves up," Tower said with a snicker.

"They blew themselves up?" Chen Feng grew even more surprised.

"You mean to say, after their souls were taken over, they blew themselves up?" Chen Feng's eyes lit up as he recalled what he felt from the calling power.

"Look closer," Tower said.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three explosive sounds rang out in quick succession as three more bandits blew themselves up. The thick blood energy and ghastly scene could knock an ordinary human senseless.

"It looks like something was absorbed into the cave. Unfortunately, it is too far away. I cannot see it clearly," Chen Feng said.

"You can go closer. That way, you will be able to get a better view," Tower said.

Chen Feng nodded. Next, his face took on a dazed look and blankness appeared in his eyes. After that, he leisurely inserted himself into the group of bandits walking into the valley.

Putting on an entranced façade, Chen Feng secretly observed the bandits around him.

According to Mo Ji, there are over 3,000 bandits in Blackwind Mountain. The way I see it, there are still nearly 2,000 bandits alive here. In other words, nearly half of the bandits here have been slaughtered. Furthermore, I have yet to see a single Sky Human stage bandit here. Looks like the Sky Human stage bandit leaders have all been slaughtered. When you look at it that way, my job here is finished! Chen Feng thought.

In Chen Feng's shoes, any other cultivator on the job would have immediately turned tail and book it. The Blackwind Mountain bandits were all going to die. Why should anyone care whatever happened next?

However, Chen Feng's heart was filled with curiosity.

One by one, the bandits exploded without screaming or panicking. They simply lined up and silently blew themselves up into b.l.o.o.d.y bits. The silent march of death was even more horrifying.

Chen Feng slowly moved forward and observed closely. Finally, he noticed it.

After the bandits blew themselves up, Chen Feng noticed a great force pulling strands of soul power out from the streams of blood energy. Next, the strands of soul power flowed into the nearby cave.

As expected, there is something inside the cave behind this sinister situation. First, it utilized soul-bewitching techniques to make the bandits blow themselves up. Next, it absorbed the strands of soul power released after the bandits died. What a wicked move! However, it ended up wasting all these blood essences. In other words, although the monster inside the cave is very powerful, it could only devour soul power, Chen Feng deduced.

"Tower, just what is inside the cave. Are you confident you can deal with it? If you are not, we should retreat. This scene is too horrifying," Chen Feng secretly asked Tower.

"Of course I am confident! Kid, I got to say. You have Heaven-defying luck! If this succeeds, you'll benefit big time from it," Tower said amusedly.

"Benefit? What kind of benefit?" Chen Feng asked curiously.

"Judging by its methods, the monster inside the cave should be a yao beast known as Diabolic Nightmare. This yao beast devours the soul power of other life forms to cultivate itself. It innately possesses a formidable soul power. If you can devour the soul power that this yao beast cultivated, your Soulflame will become even more exuberant. Also, your soul power will grow so strong, you can fight against Sky Human stage cultivators," Tower said.

"Err, Diabolic Nightmare? And what level is this Diabolic Nightmare at? Great Yao?" Chen Feng asked. If it were at the Great Yao stage, then the Longevity Tower would be able to suppress it.

"Peak-level Great Yao. It is very close to reaching the Yao King stage. If it manages to take that final step to become Yao King, I will have no way to handle it. However, judging by its actions, it must be doing all this in preparation to rise up to the Yao King stage," Tower said.

"Peak-level Great Yao!" Chen Feng grew concerned.

"Don't worry about it. With the aegis of the Soul Subduing Mantra and my help, this Great Yao is not an issue!" Tower said with a chuckle.

1 zhang = 3.333 m